Danmachi: A fresh start
by Fireball2525
Summary: When Bell's supporter and goddess die, he decides to join the Loki familia. As he works to catch up with Aiz and try to heal his scars, he will find the new experiences that come with a big Familia.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fanfic readers. Before you start reading, I would like to make an apology. I haven't been active for quite a while since cutting off the "Two worlds two couples" story. I have just been thinking on what to do next. I wanted to think of a story with a good plot, but it's simple enough so I will be able to put in extra scenes without it being weird. This is also my first non Yo-Kai watch fanfic, so I hope you enjoy.**

 **Danmachi/Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon**

(Flashback)As the adventurers try their hardest to fight against the black goliath, it proved useless against its regeneration and powerful attacks. It would just keep healing itself and taking out adventurers by the masses. One of the fighters caught in the ordeal was the Little Rookie, Bell Cranel. A 14 year old boy whose white hair and red eyes resembles that of a rabbit. Apart of the Hestia Familia, he has recently gained popularity for his rank up in a month and a half.

Back to the fight, Bell attempted to attack the beast with an argonaut powered firebolt. While it did destroy half of its head, it simply regenerated and knocked him out of commission. Seeing their teammate fly off, Supporter Liliruca Arde and Blacksmith Welf Crozzo ran towards him. Unfortunately, the Goliath noticed and slammed both fists down on them.

*BOOM* The ground shook from the shockwave and a huge column of dust rose up. It knocked everyone around off their feet. After recovering from the attack, Welf looked around for his friend.

"LILI?!" He called out in fear. His eyes then glanced to the spot next to him. Where Lili had been was replaced by her white cloak and a pool of blood. The color from Welf's face drained to pale white

(Hestia POV) When Hestia saw Bell crash land into the ground, fear shot through her nerves. As she ran to Bell's side, she couldn't help but worry for the life of the only member of her familia.

"Oh Bell, don't die" she said silently. Other adventurers rushed over to give him medical attention. Suddenly, a gray blur whizzed by and Hestia found herself in the air. The Goliath has found her. She looked in terror as the Black Goliath stared intently at her. It then roared, reared back its arm, and then slammed the small goddess to the ground. The impact brought the goddess to a state of near death. Instantly, Arcanum was activated to preserve her life. Because of the rule stating how deities are forbidden to use it, her body became a pillar of light. She knew this was the end of her time here and her time with Bell.

"Bell…. I'm…..sorry" Hestia said before she completely disappeared to the heavens. Everyone was shocked and grieved by the death of the goddess.

After the fight, Bell was told the bad news. His supporter and goddess had died during the fight. Bell couldn't believe what he had heard. The person who had became his first friend in the dungeon and the goddess who accepted him when no one would were gone. It was too much to handle. When he reached the surface, all he did was huddle in the church were he and Hestia lived in. Due to the the tragedy being involved with the irregular Goliath, only a handful of people knew that Hestia was gone. The Guild told everyone to pretend she was alive to make sure no one knew a goddess went in the dungeon. Welf visited everyday to comfort him and give him someone to talk to. Bell soon became quite distant with people he was friends with. He hasn't been to the dungeon ever since.

(Three weeks later) Welf was on his way to make his daily visit to Bell. He was worried since he hasn't left the church for three weeks. Welf would always stop at the bar to pick up a small lunch by Syr. She would always ask if he was doing better, only to get the same response. When he arrived, he entered the room where bell was laying down.

"Hey, are you feeling any better?" Welf asked hopefully. As usual, he was just met by silence. He then placed down the food and sat down.

"Look man, you can't just mop forever" He said with irritation, "The only thing you can do is stop dwelling in the past and try looking towards the future" Bell only turned his head to look at Welf. His hair was a filthy white and his crimson eyes had lost their luster.

"It's not something I can just get over" Bell whispered.

"Yes it is! You have bound back up and continue on! Be a hero who turns everything around when it's all stacked against him!" Welf yelled while standing up. When he said that, Bell remembered a time someone said those words. His goddess said that when describing his skill, Argonaut.

"It suits you just perfectly" Bell mouthed out of what she said. Welf was right, he had to get up. The heroes in the stories always go through of period of hopelessness. What they did differently was they stood up and use those emotions to propel them to the end. If he couldn't do that, he had not right to dream about being a hero.

Bell then sat up and turned to Welf. Welf saw the look of determination and resolve in his eyes.

"Welf, I'm ready to move forward and to use my emotions to help me move forward" Bell said, his voice full of confidence.


	2. Chapter 2

First, Bell had to fix himself. After weeks of moping, he didn't realized how much of a mess he was. He quickly washed himself to clean his hair and body. Afterwards, he needed to fix ties with friends. He visited Eina from the guild, Syr from the bar, and other people. They all forgave him and were happy to see him back to his usual self. Last, he had to face his newfound fear, The Dungeon. It had been the cause of it all, the reason for his strange behavior. Bell thought that he just had to be able to stay on the 18th floor to get over it.

Bell and Welf decided to think by about it while taking a stroll. While walking, they talked about ways for Bell to get back in the dungeon.

"The first thing to do is to join a familia. With one, you can have your status back" Welf explained.

"Well, the thing is that I don't know which one to join" Bell said with a sigh. They began to brainstorm possible candidates. Almost every familia will accept Bell because of his achievement. He should join a familia that he knows someone in. He can't be in Hephaestus or Miach because he lacks the specific skills.

"How about the Takemikazuchi familia? You know them quite well" Welf suggested.

"Well, they haven't been that active after the incident. It would be difficult to get over my fear if my teammates have that same fear" Bell said with grimace. He also was worried about forcing them to deal with him overdoing the fights in his attempt to become stronger.

To be strong enough to protect the ones close to him.

To be as strong as Aiz Wallenstein.

As strong as Aiz

Aiz…

"What about the Loki familia?" Bell asked without realizing.

"Loki? It is a strong familia with lots of big shots" Welf pondered. When Bell heard him, he was confused since he didn't realize that he initiated the topic.

"We do know some of them from the 18th floor and they are experienced enough to give you counseling" Welf continued with his grin getting bigger.

"The Loki familia is the perfect option for you!" Welf exclaimed which caused Bell to jump. While Bell did agree that it was a good idea, he was nervous though. If he were to join, he would be much closer to Aiz and would be able to meet up without being secretive.

"W-well, it would be a g-great idea" Bell said, stuttering and blushing. Welf noticed and was surprised by his reaction.

"Bell, why are you getting flustered about this?" He asked. Bell blushed more and quickly denied it. Welf decided to let it go. They soon decided to ask Loki for Bell to join her familia.

After arriving at the twilight manor, Bell was extremely nervous. Welf saw this and tried to calm him.

"It's okay. You are an amazing adventurer and an even more amazing person. Anyone would be lucky to have you." Welf said while placing his hand on Bell's shoulder. This helped him relax and gather up the courage to knock on the gate.

"Who goes there?" A voice asked after a few seconds.

"My name is Bell Cranel. I would like to join the Loki Familia" Bell yelled back. A few moments of silence passed and then the gate began to open. Two guys in armor walked up to him.

"We will escort you to our goddess" one of them stated. They then proceeded to make their way through the manor. Bell was shocked by how glamorous and big the base was compared to the church. Soon, they arrived at two doors.

"Loki waits for you inside" they said and stepped aside. Bell walked up and open the doors to reveal a medium sized office with Loki sitting behind a desk.

"I was surprised when I heard that Shrimp's child came and even more surprised that he wanted to join my familia. Care to explain?" Loki said with a piercing glare. Bell then explained all that has happened, including the passing of Hestia. Prior to their visit, they asked the guild for permission to disclose said info with Loki. When he finished, Loki was completely shocked. She never knew that Hestia has been dead ever since her familia returned. While she did make fun of her, she also felt a sisterly bond between them. She was silent for a few seconds.

"I...see" she finally said, "I am sorry for the passing of your goddess. I wasn't aware of what had happened"

"So, What is your decision?" Bell asked.

"You may join my familia, under certain conditions. One, you may never speak of Hestia's passing. Second, you must obey every order given by the higher ups. Third, you must help any familia member if they are in danger" Loki stated. Bell agreed to all three conditions.

"Okay then. Bell Cranel, you are now an official member of the Loki Familia" Loki said with a grin.


	3. Chapter 3

Afterwards, Loki led Bell to a room with a bed and a stool next to it.

"This is where I update statuses. I expect you to come once or twice a week" Loki explained. Bell then sat down on the stool and removed his shirt. Loki sat on the bed and took out a needle. She poked her finger and wiped the blood on his back. When she finished the ritual, she checked out his stats. She was surprised by what she saw. His stats were higher than it should be with it being all S's. What shocked her the most was one of his skills, Liaris Freese. His growth is increased by his emotions and by how strong they are.

"So that's how he was able to rank up so quickly" Loki thought to herself. She also realized why Hestia kept it a secret. If word got out, other deities would try to steal him. Especially the one who she knows has her eyes on a certain someone.

"So, how are my stats?" Bell asked.

"Oh, they are quite high for a level two. As a custom, I will put a status lock so no one can see your abilities" Loki explained while applying the status lock. After that, she called the entire familia to the great hall.

"It's time for your welcoming ceremony" Loki said with a smirk.

Aiz, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione were walking to the great hall. They were curious to why Loki called a familia meeting.

"What do you think is going on?" Tiona asked.

"Well, it can't be an expedition since we just had a meeting about one today" Tione replied. Aiz was just silent as usual. When they got seated, Loki came out to the front.

"Glad you all could make it. Just now, we got ourselves a new member" Loki shouted.

"What?! All of this for one person?" Bete yelled. Others murmured in agreement.

"This person is a special case as he has gained some popularity in Orario. I would like to introduce our new member, Bell Cranel!" Loki said as Bell walked on stage. The reaction that followed was loud.

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled. Bete and Tione were shocked, Tiona was excited, Lefiya looked absolutely disgusted, and Aiz was surprised. They never expected for _him_ to be apart of their familia

"Hello, my name is Bell and I look forward to working with all of you" Bell said quickly. No one heard him since the great hall became a combination of moods. Some were happy, some were mad, some didn't care, and a lot were confused.

"I wonder what's going on?" Aiz said to herself.

After the announcement, Loki quickly showed Bell all the places he needed to know, including his room.

"If you have anymore questions, ask one of the others" she said and then left. Bell was in a daze by all that has happened. He didn't see the person coming up to him. Before he knew it, someone grabbed his collar and held him against the wall. When he looked, he saw it was the werewolf that made fun of him at the bar.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!" Bete yelled, " No weakling should be allowed here!"

"Bete, cut it out!" Tione yelled as she came down the hallway with Tiona, Lefiya, and Aiz. She pulled him back and made him drop Bell.

"You shouldn't bully someone like that, especially a new member!" Tione scolded.

"Hey Mr. Argonaut, are you okay?" Tiona asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" Bell replied, breathing heavily. She then helped him up.

"Sorry about Bete. He can be a real nuisance" Tione explained. Bete just scoffed and walked away. Aiz then approached Bell to ask him something.

"Bell, why did you join? I thought you were apart of the Hestia familia?" Aiz asked. Bell tensed up since one of his conditions was to never speak of it.

"I...can't really tell you" Bell said quietly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tiona asked, trying to get an answer.

"Goddess Loki forbids me from telling anyone" Bell explained. This only got them more curious. Why would Loki not want Bell telling anyone what happened? They wanted to ask him more about it, but Rivera showed up.

"What are you guys doing? You shouldn't pester him about something he can't talk about" Rivera said in a motherly tone.

"Okay, Mom" Tione and Tiona said.

"And don't call me that!" She yelled. With that everyone went to there room to sleep. When Bell got into bed, he reflected all that has happened today.

"Well, it's hard to believe my life just took another turn" he whispered and then drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Bell got up and went down to the Great Hall to eat. After he got his food and sat down, he was quickly surrounded by familiar faces.

"Hi Mr. Argonaut!" Tiona said while sitting next to him.

"Hey there kid" Tione said while sitting next to her sister.

"Hello…..Human" Lefiya said disgusted while sitting across from Tiona.

"Hi Bell" Aiz said while sitting down next to him. Bell began to feel flustered with all the girls sitting very close to him.

"H-hi everyone" he replied. Tiona and Tione laughed, Lefiya made a "gag me now" gesture, and Aiz smiled.

"So Mr. Argonaut, what made you decide to join us?" Tiona asked.

"Well, I just felt this familia would welcome me with open arms after the help you gave me on the 18th floor" Bell explained.

"We were happy to help" a voice replied. Bell turned to see a small man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a purple and yellow outfit sit right in front of him. This was none other than Finn, captain of the Loki familia. Bell immediately grew nervous by the sight of the powerful adventurer.

"I really appreciate the fact how you joined us when there were other options" Finn continued.

"Oh no, I really appreciate being accepted even though I am only level two" Bell said while raising his hands. Finn chuckled by Bell's reaction.

"It doesn't matter what level you are since everyone here is family" Finn explained. Bell ran that phrase through his mind. A family that supports each other.

"Speaking of which, how do you plan to tackle the dungeon with a new familia?" Aiz asked, the thought popping up.

"Oh, I'll need to work hard to be able to go down as deep as you guys. My only party member is my blacksmith" Bell explained while scratching the back of his head. When he said that, something seemed off about it.

"Only one? Didn't you have another member, the girl with the brown hair?" Aiz asked since she remembered two people with him when she found him at the entrance of floor 18. Bell became silent and had a sad look in his eyes. The group assumed that said person had died.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up" Aiz apologized for being inconsiderate.

"No, it's not your fault. You didn't know" Bell said to try and calm her. The others felt bad and awkward since they were about to ask the same thing. Tiona gave him a hug to try and make him feel better. Unfortunately, Bell immediately tensed up and began blushing.

"M-m-miss T-Tiona?! W-what are y-you doing?!" Bell asked, with his voice cracking. Tiona just laughed by how adorable he his when embarrassed.

"What's wrong? It's just a hug" Tiona said mischievously. She then squeezed harder, making Bell think his ribcage would shatter.

"That's enough. Leave him alone" a stern voice said. They looked and saw it was Riveria. She, again, gave off a motherly aura. Tiona then let go of Bell, which he then gasped for air.

"Sorry about her. She tends to be quite childish" Riveria said, making Tiona shout in protest. She sat down next to Finn and began to question Bell.

"I am quite fascinated in your magic. So, how is it that you can perform magic without a chant?" She asked intrigued.

"I'm not sure. It just showed up and It didn't have any chant" Bell tried to explain. He was starting to get more nervous as everyone around him were hanging on to every word. He needed someway to get away.

"I just remembered. I need to meet up with someone. Sorry, have to go" Bell said quickly and then ran out. They all just looked in confusion by his sudden exit.

Once outside, he then ran towards Welf's forge. When he got there, he told him of all that has happened.

"Nice going! I knew you would join!" Welf said while slapping Bell's back.

"Yeah, thank you for helping me make that decision" Bell replied.

"No problem, so you want me to repair your gear?" Welf asked. Bell nodded and handed him his armor. After they were finished, Bell ran towards the dungeon. When he got there, he was spotted by Aiz and the others who were also going there.

"Hey there, Mr Argonaut!" Tiona yelled. Bell was surprised to run into to them.

"We were about to enter. Want to join us?" Aiz asked.

"S-sure" Bell replied. They then entered and made their through the middle floors. Bell didn't have that much trouble this time through since he was stronger and had a the others have his back. Soon, they reached floor 17. When they got to the boss room, the wall of lamentation began to shatter. Bell flinched as the last time he heard that, he almost died afterwards.

"Here it comes" Tione said while drawing her blades. Each of them got ready as Goliath stepped out.

"You should probably sit out since you are to weak" Lefiya said to Bell with a smirk. Bell looked annoyed by how Lefiya talked down to him. He then dashed forward and began his own attack.

"Bell, Wait!" Aiz shouted in shock. Bell then jumped up and slashed at one of its caused quite a lot of damage, so it caught the giant's attention. Bell began to run away with the Goliath at tow.

"Guys! Now!" Bell shouted. The group then took the opportunity to attack. Tiona sliced at the chest, Tione slashed at the other leg, Aiz slashed at the head, and Lefiya fired an Arcs ray at the chest. The Goliath was too distracted to guard itself in time. It went down and disappeared in a cloud of ash.

"Nice job Little Rookie" Tione said while slapping Bell on the back.

"That was a good plan" Aiz said coming to his side. Bell just blushed and said it was nothing. Lefiya was mad by how Aiz was complimenting him. The group then decided to head down even further.


	4. Chapter 4

p id="docs-internal-guid-6773f7d3-11b0-d50a-9a1e-21fcdf1681b2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I have an announcement to make. I can't log in to the account I have my fanfic on because my password has been changed. I won't be able to access it for a while, as It was my school account. So until then, there won't be any updates to the fanfic. I am very sorry for those who thought it was the next chapter. I will try to fix it as soon as possible. /span/p 


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! I finally was able to get in my account after a while. I want to apologize to everyone for the two week wait. I hope you all keep reading the series since I plan to make more chapters. So, enjoy the chapter!**

When they reached the 18 floor, it returned to its nice and peaceful environment. Though they were there to witness what happened, all the girls had a look of ease on their face. It's like the fight there never happened. Bell though, started to remember everything that happened. His body was shaking as he remembered the fear, pain, and sadness that he experienced. Flashes of the beast attacking, adventurers dying, people running. He suddenly dropped to his knees. The others were shocked by his sudden movement.

"Are you alright?" Aiz asked. He couldn't hear her. All he heard was the screams of the adventurers and the roar of the black Goliath.

"Bell! Is everything alright?!" Aiz asked, with some fear evident. Tiona tried shaking him, but the same look stayed on his face.

"We need to get him some help" Tione said. Aiz then picked him up and they all ran towards Rivira.

When they got there, they ran into Bors, the leader of the town. He was surprised to not only see the Loki familia, but one of the adventurers from the Black Goliath attack.

"Bors, can you help him out?" Tiona asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" He asked.

"Our friend suddenly began to freak out when we got to this floor" Tione explained. After some thought, Bors understood what had happened. Bell probably developed a case of PTSD from the horrible things that he experienced rom the incident. Seeing the floor again brought back those memories.

"I think I know what's up with him. You should take back to the surface and try to make him relax" Bors explained. They then proceeded to carry Bell through the dungeon and back to the manor. When they got there, they went to his room and set him down on his bed. He still had a look as though he was in a nightmare.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Tiona asked.

"I hope so" Aiz responded. Soon, the girls had to leave and Aiz volunteered to stay with him. When they left, Aiz looked back at Bell.

"Please be okay" Aiz whispered as she held his hand.

Inside of his head, Bell felt as though he was in hell. There was blood, corpses, and screams everywhere around him. The Goliath rampaged, making more of those appear. He also saw Lili and Hestia running away from the monster.

"Lili! Goddess!" Bell yelled reaching for them. Before he could, the Goliath brought down its fist and crushed both of them, blood poured out from under it. Then, he heard screams that sounded like Lili and Hestia.

"It's all your fault!" They cried, " _You_ are the reason we are dead!"

"No... I-it's not true!" Bell yelled.

"You were just a coward, desperate to be a hero!" They continued to scream.

"No….No….Noooooooo!" Bell screamed as he felt himself be sucked in by the floor.

"No!" Bell yelled as he suddenly got up. He looked around to see he was in his room.

"It… was just a dream" he told himself. When he tried to get out, he felt something on his lap. He looked down to see Aiz was laying there, asleep. His face quickly turned tomato red.

"What is she doing?" Bell thought while also trying to think of how to get out.

"As long as no one enters, I should be fine" Bell said to himself. Just as he said that, the door opened to show Lefiya entering.

"Miss Aiz, I was wondering if you could.." She was saying when she actually looked in the room. She saw Aiz laying down on Bell's lap while he was sitting up.

…

The room filled with an awkward silence. After a few seconds, Lefiya broke it.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MISS AIZ?!" She yelled in anger.

"It's not what you think!" Bell said, trying to explain. Before Lefiya could say something, Aiz woke up and looked at both of them.

"Bell? Lefiya? Why are you guys yelling?" She asked while suppressing a yawn. Lefiya quickly dismissed it and walked out. Aiz then looked at Bell.

"You're awake. Are you feeling better?" Aiz asked.

"What do you mean?" Bell asked, as he doesn't remember what had happened after going to floor 18.

"You suddenly dropped to your knees and had a terrified look on your face" She explained while curious on what was happening to him. Bell pieced two and two together to realize he must had a panic attack.

"What happened to you?" Aiz finally asked.

"I just remembered horrible things that happened there" Bell quietly said, trying not to give too much away. Aiz wanted to know more so she could help him, but she realized it would be rude to pester him about it.

"Try to relax for now. You should come down later to eat" Aiz said and then promptly left the room. Bell laid down and began to think.

"Will I have to go through that every time I enter Floor 18?" He thought worryingly. Soon, his exhaustion caught up and he fell asleep.

Aiz was walking to her room when she was cornered by Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya.

"Oh, do you guys need something?" Aiz asked.

"We wanted to talk about the new kid, Bell" Tione said while pulling Aiz into her room. They all sat down in a circle.

"So Tiona, What your thoughts?" Aiz asked.

"I think he's really cool and brave. He took on monsters like the Minotaur and Goliath even though they were stronger" Tiona said with sparkles emitting from her face.

"The kid does have guts. He also is surprisingly polite, as he did apologize extensively for seeing us bathe" Tione remarked.

"That human disgusts me. We give him hospitality and he peeps at us like a creep. He also has a perverted look on his face every time he looks at a girl. He is the worst!" Lefiya said with a disgusted expression. The others felt as though she may have been exaggerating about him.

"So Aiz, What do you think about him?" Tiona asked.

"Well, you guys are right how he is brave, yet polite. He also is very determined to become strong and he works hard to reach that goal. I admire all those aspects as those should be the qualifications for a true adventurer" Aiz said with a small smile forming with every word. Tiona and Tione smiled while Lefiya was shocked by how she said she "admired" him.

"Should we go eat now?" Tiona asked after her stomach grumbled. They agreed and made their way to the great hall. They sat down with Finn, Riveria, and Gareth who were having a conversation.

"What took you all so long?" Gareth asked after noticing them.

"We were just talking about Bell" Aiz replies while nibbling on a piece of bread.

"Ah yes, there are some things I would like to ask about him like his type of weapon and skills" Finn said. Almost ironically, Bell showed up at the table right after he said that.

"Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you" Riveria said with a small chuckle. As Bell sat down, he was immediately bombarded by questions.

"What level are your basic abilities? Tell me more about your weapon? What skills do ya have? Is your armor custom made to match your looks?" The questions came faster than Bell could answer them.

"Um.. well… only…no" Bell attempted but only got out one word responses.

"Sorry for so many questions, how about you just tell us about your weapon?" Finn compromised.

"Well, my main weapon is the Hestia Knife. It was a special gift from the my goddess" Bell explained while taking it out. As usual, it was completely jet black and covered in markings. While most of the group looked in curiosity, Riveria was able to translate some parts of it.

"Wait, it says something about life and growth with user" Riveria pointed out.

"My goddess said that it was alive and as I got stronger, it would get stronger" Bell explained. That shocked the group as the idea of a living blade seemed absurd, even for them.

"No way, only the gods can do that" Aiz said quietly. Before any of them could say more, Bell pulled out his other weapon.

"This is the Ushiwakamaru, a blade made from the horn of the Minotaur I fought on Floor 9" Bell continued with a chuckle.

"What?! It's from the monster we saw you take down?!" Tiona exclaimed. The others were quite surprised.

"It was made by my blacksmith as a symbol of our friendship" He continued with his smile increasing. Aiz also smiled by how it was proof of the bond they share. As part of the compromise, they didn't ask anymore questions and ate while making small talk. Afterwards, they all headed to their rooms to turn in for the night. Bell fell asleep the second as he laid down on his bed.


	6. Chapter 6

One of Orario's specialties is how it never sleeps. In fact, it seems to be more active in the night rather than the day. This is mostly due to adventurers celebrating their efforts, Bars and taverns were packed with adventurers who want to get drunk after a hard day in the dungeon. Besides them, many merchants set up in hopes of running into a drunken person who will buy their products. They mostly have cheap items that cost a ridiculous amount of valis since the adventurers at that time have their decisions impaired from the alcohol. Finally, this is when most thefts and robberies happen. Thugs trying to make a quick buck, adventurers trying to steal better gear, and shady dealers making illegal trades. There truly was a huge difference between day and night.

Though, this meant nothing to a certain goddess. Residing on one of the highest floors in Babel was the elusive and gorgeous Goddess of beauty, Freya. She was a fickle goddess that desire excitement and entertainment. More than often, her definition of fun and means to get it seemed crazy to a normal person. Her familia is one of the most powerful in the city, rivaling Loki's. The difference between the two were their children. Freya's familia are extremely loyal to their goddess. If she asked them to kill themselves, they would do so without hesitation. They all had just one rule to follow, Freya's beauty is absolute. None could compare and anyone who dares claim to be more beautiful or insult her beauty is a dead man.

Freya is all so quite picky to who joins her familia. She chooses them by the color of their soul. An inate ability that doesn't qualify as arcanum allows her to see the souls of people and their potential. Each one of her members have a color that pleases her. Unfortunately, the majority of adventurers didn't have a good color. That is, until she saw _him_. She was doing the occasional observation of the city when she randomly found a soul that attracted her interest. The color was transparent, something that she had never seen before. It belonged to a boy who looked weak, couldn't stand up for himself, and cried too easily. The only other good thing was how he was cute, with his white hair and red eyes. From that moment on, Freya was determined to make him hers. She would watch him, observe his actions and how he would grow. She was extremely pleased by his accomplishments such as his fight with the Minotaur. Other times, she was angered by him getting close to girls such as the Sword Princess. Overall, her interest still remained. But now, she was extremely angered.

"THAT BITCH!" Freya screamed as she hurled her glass of wine to the floor. It shattered into pieces upon impact. Standing a considerably safe distance from her was Ottar, the captain of the familia and the only level 7 adventurer in Orario.

"Lady Freya, is everything all right?" He asked as this was the first time he seen her this angry.

"No, that slit eyed goddess stole _my_ rabbit!" She exclaimed. A while back, she was shocked to by the death of Hestia. She wanted some way to get Bell out of her familia and this opportunity practically fell in her lap. She would have swooped in and take him, but something was off. His soul became hazy and dark, unlike how clear it originally was. She realized that the event changed him and it would be a bad idea to ask him to join. So she decided to wait until he got over it. Three weeks past and she saw his soul begun to clear up. She was ready to make her move until she saw him with Loki. She was horrified to see he had joined her familia before she could get a chance. She swore a vendetta against Loki for stealing him.

"I shall declare a war game against that wretched goddess!" Freya yelled.

"Lady Freya, it would not be wise to risk challenging the Loki Familia. They are as strong as us" Ottar commented silently.

"Damnit! If it had been any other familia, I would have squished them like a bug" She growled as she began to observe Bell again. She needed a way to make him quit, make Loki give him up, or some alternative way besides taking on the familia. For now, she would watch and wait for a chance.

"Ottar, please bring me another glass of wine" she asked while returning to her throne.

"As you wish" he simply said, bowed, and then walked out. Freya returned her gaze to the city.

"Just you wait. You won't get away with this" she said with an evil grin on her face.

Bell's eyes slowly opened to reveal the ceiling of his room. He sat up, stretched his arms, and got up to begin the day. He brushed his teeth, showered, changed into some clothes, and headed down to eat. After getting his food, he looked around until he saw Aiz and went to sit by her.

"Hey, it's Mr. Argonaut" Tiona said when she noticed him. The group turned and smiled at him as he sat down.

"Are you feeling any better? Aiz asked.

"Yeah, I was able to sleep peacefully" Bell replied. Aiz smiled by how he reminded her of a little rabbit.

"So Bell, mind if we ask you some questions?" Tione asked. Bell remembered how they couldn't ask all the questions last night.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Bell replied.

"What skills do you have?" Tione asked. Aiz's ears perked a little as she was also curious.

"Well, I only have one skill. It's called Argonaut" Bell began to explain. Tiona almost spat out her food when she heard it.

"Really?! I didn't think I was that accurate when I thought of what you reminded me of" She said in amazement. The rest pondered on that thought. He was like the Argonaut, the legend about a boy who longed to be a hero.

"So, how does this skill work?" Lefiya asked mildly interested.

"I'm not so sure myself. My goddess said that it would allow me to turn the tables against an enemy, something like a _Hero's shot_ " Bell said while remembering what Hestia had told him.

"That sounds pretty cool" Tiona said with a grin.

"What does it do in battle?" Aiz asked.

"As I said, it can turn the tables against an opponent. From what I've seen, it powers up an attack to do massive damage" Bell explained while remembering both the case of the infant dragon and the Black Goliath. He frowned as he realized something. Both Lili and his goddess have had something to do with his skill. He quickly shaked the thoughts out of his head.

"Cool, want to test it out?" Tione suggested.

"Huh?" Bell responded.

"Try using that skill of yours against one of us" Tione explained. The other girls got interested by the thought of fighting him. He, however, wasn't.

"I-I don't thinks that's a good idea. You guys are way stronger and I can't guarantee that it would work" Bell quickly tried to explain. Aiz, Tiona, and Tione seemed disappointed while Lefiya had a smug look.

"That's exactly why he has no reason to get near Miss Aiz" Lefiya thought.

"We can test it out some other time in the dungeon." Tione said with a shrug. Bell sighed in relief.

"Should we just hang out today?" Tiona suggested. Aiz, Lefiya, and Tione nodded in agreement while Bell was a bit unsure.

"Want to go with us, Bell?" Aiz asked. He blushed slightly by the unexpected invitation.

"Um, well… sure" He replied nervously. They soon finished eating and went out around the city. They visited some stores to try on some new clothes. Tiona and Tione picked out some outfits for Aiz to try out. The first was a red swimsuit. They asked both Lefiya and Bell what they thought of it.

"That's way to revealing!" Lefiya exclaimed with her face slightly tuning red. Bell was at a lost for words and his face turned as red as the swimsuit. Tiona noticed this and decided to tease him.

"Hey Mr. Argonaut. Do you like seeing Aiz wear this?" She asked in a mischievous voice. His eyes widened and his face went up a few shades.

"I-I do-Wait I mean I don't-Uhh" Bell stuttered. The two Amazons laughed, Aiz had a confused look, and Lefiya had a look of utter loathing. After a few more outfits and embarrassed reactions from Bell, they left the shop and went to grab a snack.

"We should get potato puffs" Aiz said. The girls knew there wasn't any point to opposing so they agreed. They soon found a stall selling them. Bell was thankful it wasn't his goddess working the stall like the last time. Each of them ordered a different flavored potato. They were eating them as they walked. Suddenly, Aiz extended her puff to Bell.

"Want to try?" Aiz asked. Bell nearly choked on his potato. Lefiya was shocked as she wanted to be the one who Aiz offered a bite of her snack.

"What?!" Bell and Lefiya both exclaim.

"Come on, try it" Aiz said as she pushed it closer to him. Seeing as he had no other choice, he slowly leaned forward and bit into the potato puff. Again, his face turned red when he realized something.

"This is an… indirect kiss!" He thought happily in his head. Tiona was smirking, Tione seemed mildly interested, and Lefiya was in the verge of crying. When Bell thought it was over, he was so wrong.

"Can I have some of yours?" Aiz asked. Now the group was shocked by her asking.

"S-s-sure!" Bell stuttered as he extended his puff to Aiz. She quickly to a small bite out of it.

"It's good" she commented. After a while, they decided to head back to the manor. When they arrived, a familiar squeal met their ears.

"Your back!" Loki shouted as she dived towards the group. By instinct, Aiz, Tiona, and Tione stepped to the side. She almost tackled Bell, but he ducked last minute. Alas, poor Lefiya couldn't move away in time.

"N-n-no!" Lefiya shouted in discomfort as Loki groped her. The girls paid it no mind and Bell tried his hardest to look away. Soon, they each went upstairs, say their good nights, and went to sleep for the next day.

 **You all may be wondering why I suddenly brought in Freya. The reason was that someone made a review saying why didn't Freya attack Loki for taking Bell. I never thought of that so I finally decided to put it in. So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next update.**


	7. Chapter 7

The day began as any other day. Bell woke up, got ready, ate breakfast, and set out to prep himself for a dungeon trip. He first made his way to the Hostess of Fertility to pick up his usual box lunch. He found Syr waiting outside as she always does.

"Hi Bell!" She called out when she noticed. He greeted her back and waited as she went to go bring the box. As he waited, Ryu stepped outside to greet him as well.

"Hello Mr. Cranel" She said with her normal empty tone.

"Hi Ryu, how's the tavern?" Bell asked.

"It's been good, the normal rowdy adventurers" Ryu replied. By then, Syr came back and noticed them talking.

"Bell, what have you been saying to Ryu?" Syr asked suspiciously.

"Just the state of the tavern" Ryu replied quickly. Syr looked from Ryu to Bell and back. In the end, she just shrugged and gave him his lunch.

"Good luck, and come back to eat okay" Syr said with her signature cute expression. Bell promised and made his way towards the dungeon. When he entered, he made a mental note to not go to the middle floors. He didn't have Welf with him so it would be suicide to go down there alone. Slowly, Bell made his way through the floors of the dungeon. He remembered some important events that happened there. The Minotaur on Floor 5 which caused him to meet Aiz Wallenstein, Floor 9 where he faced that Minotaur and was able to level up. He smirked by how the treacherous Dungeon gave him so many happy experiences.

After some time, he finally reached Floor 11. He decided to stay on the floor and grind monsters. He ran into orcs, silverbacks, hard armoreds, and even an Infant dragon. He was quite surprised how easy it was to take it down. After a few hours, Bell decided it was time to call it a day. The monsters had barely put a scratch on him, though he was getting tired. He collected the last of the magic stones. As he began to leave, he felt as though he was being watched. It wasn't the feeling he had many times. This one felt closer and more dangerous. His eyes swept across the floor. Only the landscape and monsters could be seen. He shrugged it off and resumed to leaving with more caution.

 **30 Minutes Later…**

Bell was already half way through Floor 8. The entire time, he still got that "being watched" feeling. Each time, it seemed to get closer and closer. He was beginning to get nervous and had his hand on his weapon at all times. It had been some time since the last feeling, so he was starting to ease up.

Suddenly, Bell felt something in his mind and he instinctively jumped back. It was a good thing as a second later, an arrow flew past the spot his head was at. It struck the cave wall and stuck in. Bell quickly turned in the direction of the shot. He saw a passage that leads to another part of the floor. Out of its shadows came a man with a bow.

"Quite the reflexes. Not many adventurers can dodge an arrow last second" he said with a hint of annoyance. Bell backed up a little.

"Who are you?" Bell asked with his hand gripping his weapon.

"Oh, we're just the simple adventurers who's gonna rob you of all your valuables" he said with an evil grin. Bell was wondering what he meant by we when he noticed movement. From the other passages came more adventurers. They had different weapons such as a sword, axe, daggers, mace, and a staff. They soon formed a net that blocked any way past them. All of them had the same evil expression as the first guy.

"So what's it gonna be? Are you going to hand over all your things like a good rabbit or will we have to take it by force?" The bow wielder asked with a smug look. Bell quickly tried to think of a strategy. It was impossible to get past them without fighting and he knew he would be outnumbered if tried attacking. He was in a tight spot. The group slowly began to move closer to Bell while raising their weapons, Bell began to back up to keep his distance away from them. If he tried to retreat to the floor below, they would just follow him and make it more difficult to escape. The tension was increasing as the group got closer and closer to Bell.

 ***tck tck tck***

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard echoing from the passage behind Bell. He and the group looked in confusion. Something seemed off about the steps, almost as if it was too…unnatural.

 ***tck tck tck tck***

The footsteps got louder and closer. A new tension arose and it filled the room with uncertainty. Then, the source of the sound appeared. It was a woman. She wore a red and yellow outfit that covered and exposed some parts of her body. The outfit seemed to match her red hair. On her back was a longsword that had an ominous look to it. The most peculiar thing about her was her eyes. They were a deep green and they resembled to that of a snake. She herself gave off an aura of a monster of the dungeon. She stopped a few feet away from Bell and looked at everyone in front of her.

"Ugh, more adventurer scum" she said with a disgusted tone. Most of them were too scared to argue back, though one of them was too angry to listen to logic.

"You better watch who you call scum" the axe wielder threatened while pointing his weapon. She simply looked at him with a bored expression.

"Have it your way" she said. Right after she said it, she practically disappeared. The next moment, she was behind the man. Before he could react, she drew her sword and decapitated him. His head flew up and seem to be floating in the air. It soon fell down and hit the ground with a disgusting splat. The lady turned to the rest of the group.

"May as well finish you all off" she said. In a blink of an eye, all of the group was dead and Bell was the only one remaining. He was paralyzed in fear and shock. The woman turned to Bell and walked right up to him.

"It's almost a shame for such an cute and innocent face to die. Almost" she commented as she pointed her sword at Bell. His nerves went into overdrive and he regained his senses. Drawing both dagger, he jumped back to put some distance.

"So you aren't just some wimp" she said before rushing him. She brought her sword down to end it quickly, but was shocked by the result. Instead of the usual smooth swipe that she happened with all adventurers, she felt resistance as he blocked her attack. The boy was only using his black dagger to block. She jumped back and tried analyzing.

"How was he able to do that? It didn't seem like it was because of natural strength. I felt his arm shaking as if it were being pushed to its maximum limit. It may have been the weapon itself for why he could do it. Regardless, I should get rid of it" She thought to herself while staring at the boy.

When she charged at him, Bell brought up the Hestia knife at the last second to block. He wasn't expecting for so much power from the attack. It nearly broke his arm to push back at the sword. Thankfully, the lady jumped back and stood there as though she was thinking.

"This is my chance! I need to get away before she attacks again!" Bell thought as he began to turn. Unfortunately, this not only left him vulnerable but the opportunity was noticed by the red haired woman. She jumped in front of him and slashed at his chest. He didn't have enough time to react, so the attack struck him and left a nasty wound. He was very luck that she missed any important organs and veins. But, she wasn't over yet. She used the momentum from her swing to spin around and punched him right in the chest. While it was a good thing that Bell had his light armor, it did quite little in protecting him. He crashed into the wall at an alarming speed. When the dust cleared, he his entire body was covered in injuries from the impact. His chest plate had a fist sized dent in it that sunk in. He hardly had the energy to move. The lady smirked at his pitiful state.

"This is has just been amusing to me. Playing with my prey is much more interesting than killing them right away" she said with a slight sadistic smile. She slowly began to walk towards him with her sword dragging across the ground. Bell tried to move, but his muscles refused to do so.

" _Come on! I have to move! If I don't, I will die and leave too many people behind!"_ He thought as he kept trying. She was getting closer and was almost upon him, Bell soon realized that there was nothing he could do and was about to give up when he noticed something. His right hand was glowing in a faint light. Little sparkles emitted and little chimes could be heard. He recognized this as his Argonaut skill. The ability to turn the tables with a small bit of power left. Seeing it gave Bell enough motivation to make his next move. Before the lady was upon him, he brought up his right hand. The action confused the lady, just as he wanted it.

"FIREBOLT!" He shouted and a huge white beam of energy shot out his hand and hit his target.

 ***BOOOM***

The explosion that followed was deafening. The entire floor shook from the force as dust and rocks fell from the ceiling. A particularly large one fell from above Bell and had struck his leg. He cried out in pain, but it was overshadowed by the rumbling. After some time, the shaking and noise stopped enough for Bell to look around. When the smoke cleared up, he saw that his attack had barely done damage. The woman' clothes were slightly burned, but she was still standing with minimal injuries. She did look both surprised and annoyed.

"Persistent, I see. Never knowing when to quit. You are just like Aria" she spat. He wondered who this Aria was.

"I will let you live for now, but you won't survive our next encounter" she said as she turned away, " You may call me Revis". With those final words, she disappeared into the darkness of the dungeon. Bell was now alone and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm just glad to be alive" He said. He tried to get up, but his body ran out of all energy. His vision slowly darkened as he fell back on the ground and passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

The Twilight manor seemed to be bustling as it always does. Members talking, arguing, eating, training, and other expected activities. Even the higher ups were having a normal day. Finn was doing paperwork, Gareth was sharpening his axe, Riveria was mentoring Lefiya, Bete was taking a nap, and both Tiona and Tione were in another argument. The only person who seemed to be breaking the norm was Aiz. While she would normally be training, she was currently lost in her thoughts. All she could think about was the rabbit, Bell Cranel. Ever since he joined the familia, she thought it would help her learn why he is growing so fast. She would observe his actions and take note of what activities he normally does. She thought that if she tried mimicking what he does, she would improve. But now, she has hit a dead end.

" _It doesn't make sense"_ she thought to herself. There wasn't anything unique about what he does. Bell was doing things that all adventurers do. Go to the dungeon, prep his gear, take time to relax. She already does these things on a normal basis. She has tried everything she could to learn, but her status growth hasn't changed one bit. Perhaps it was something unique to Bell alone. Pure talent, A skill, luck? Whatever the reason, Aiz wasn't able to do it. While in thought, a knock came from her door. She stood up and walked over to open it. It turned out to be Lefiya.

"Oh, Lefiya. Is something wrong?" Aiz asked.

"No, everything's alright. I just came to check in on you. What were you doing?" Lefiya asked. She hoped to be able to spend some time with Aiz.

"...Thinking" She responded after a few seconds. She couldn't stop thinking about him. All this wondering about the boy was to much. She needed a distraction.

"I was actually about to head out" Aiz said.

"Oh, may I join you?" Lefiya asked excitedly. Aiz shook her head.

"I want to go alone. Need to think about things" she responded. Lefiya had a disappointed look on her face. She accepted it and walked away. Aiz then quickly got her armor and weapon and made her way to the dungeon.

On her way there, adventurers everywhere stared at her in awe. She was practically used to it. She was the Sword Princess after all. It would be strange for someone not to be amazed. Though, she didn't want all of the attention. All she wanted was to get stronger, not popular. It just distracted her from her goal. Needless to say, she ignored it and continued on. When she entered the dungeon, a comforting feeling washed over her. This was probably one of her favorite places to be. The dimly lit cave had a soothing sense of tranquility. The only thing on your mind is fighting monsters, which makes it a strangely effective way to relax. She quickly made her way through each floor with extreme ease. All monsters that crossed her path were disposed of with a single swipe of her Desperate. The monsters at these levels were too weak. She needed to go deeper to find better monsters to fight. By then, she was half way through Floor 8. It should only take a few more minutes to reach the next floor. After a few steps, she smelled something. It was very familiar in the way that it just has to do something with the Dungeon. Something that was constantly around anytime she went in here. She finally came across the word that she was looking for.

Blood

She took a few steps to try and locate where it came from. Once confirmed, she rushed in the direction of the smell to investigate. She went through multiple twists and turns on the way. Upon finally finding the source, she was slightly disturbed. The room she came upon was more or less utterly destroyed with bodies littered on the ground. One of them was decapitated while the rest had fatal slash wounds. They all looked as though they were brutally slaughtered like helpless animals. Closely examining the walls, they seemed to be scorched from some powerful fire magic. It looked as though it were hit by Lefiya's magic. While her eyes wandered the room, something caught her attention. Lying against a dented wall was a person. They looked to be unconscious and badly injured. Blood poured freely from a slash wound from the shoulder to their side and their leg was bent at a nasty angle. What shocked her the most was how this person had white hair. She immediately rushed over to Bell and gave a closer inspection. He had multiple small injuries in his back, suggesting he was thrown into the wall. His armor had a huge dent in it which made it look like it was made of aluminum. Aiz tried shaking him awake, but he still remained unconscious.

"Please don't die" she prayed. A newfound fear was creeping up as she worried whether he would be able to survive. Such wounds lasting some time, judging by the pool of blood around him, would've killed any level 2 adventurer. She just hoped that logic didn't apply here. She picked him up slowly to not upset the wound. He still felt the same as before when she carried him to after the fight on Floor 9. Similarly, she adjusted him so that he was on her back. Before she left, she stared at the room and the bodies.

"What could of happened here?" She asked herself. What fight would leave six adventurers dead in a horrific way and Bell in a grave condition. Right afterwards, she ran off as fast she can to get Bell help.

 **Back at the manor…**

"Hey Lefiya? Do you know where Aiz went?" Tiona asked. She, Tione, and Lefiya had decided to sit out in the courtyard to relax.

"She said she wanted to go to the dungeon to think" Lefiya replied. Tione had a confused look.

"Really? She usually goes to train, get valis, or spend time" she said with a voice of disbelief.

"Well, she did look like she was thinking about something when I talked to her" Lefiya said while remembering the conversation. While Tione and Lefiya continue to ponder on what Aiz was thinking about, Tiona noticed Aiz dash by into the manor. She seemed to be carrying something on her back.

"Was that Aiz?" She asked out loud. The other two noticed and looked at her.

"I think I just saw her just run in" Tiona explained.

"We should ask her if something is wrong" Tione suggested. Lefiya looked shocked.

"Don't you think it's rude to poke around in Aiz's personal issues?" She asked incredulously. The two girls brushed it off and started walking in, with Lefiya trying to catch up.

When Aiz got to the manor, she ran to the infirmary and laid him down in one of the beds. First, she removed his armor beforehand to make the treatment easier. Next, she set off to find Riveria. She quickly found her reading a book in the library. Riveria noticed her coming in.

"Oh Aiz, do you need something?" She asked while setting the book down.

"Can you come with me? It's urgent" Aiz asked. Riveria knew that it was serious by the tone of her voice. She followed Aiz to the infirmary quickly. When she entered, she almost gasped when she spotted Bell.

"What happened to him?!" She asked in shock.

"I found him like that on Floor 8" Aiz briefly explained. She then took the time to quickly explain all that she knew. Riveria listened intently and was surprised by the detail about the adventurers.

"Wait, six adventurers were found dead in the same room?" She asked to verify. Aiz simply nodded. The situation confused her as well.

"We will discuss this later. First, we have to treat his injuries" Riveria said. The two then began the treatment. They took off Bell's shirt and cleaned him of all blood that came from the wound. Riveria then used healing magic to close it up. Finally, they bandaged him up. It took a good half hour to do it all. Yet, he still hasn't woken up.

"It's a good thing you found him when you did. Any longer and he may have not survived" Riveria said with a sigh of relief. Aiz also felt immense relief knowing that he will live. Though, she also felt two different emotions upon hearing that. One was fear of how close he was to dying and that worried her greatly. The second was anger for the culprit responsible for nearly killing her friend. Man or monster, she will take revenge on them. Her thoughts were interrupted by Riveria.

"We should have a word with Finn about this. His wounds suggest that the assailant used a longsword. This proves it was most likely an adventurer" Riveria explained. It did seem perfectly logical to Aiz. The problem was why they let Bell live and killed the others. She decided to keep it to herself and followed Riveria as she left the room. They immediately went to Finn's office, where they found the captain at his desk. He was doing paperwork and he stopped when he noticed them.

"Hello Riveria and Aiz. Is there something you guys need to talk about?" He asked.

"Yes, one of our members have been seriously injured" Riveria said. Finn took a more serious tone.

"Which member was it?" He asked.

"Our newest member, Bell Cranel" she explained. Finn quickly glanced at Aiz and understood why she was there also. She has been protective about the boy, an example being when she ran off upon hearing about the Minotaur.

"This is peculiar. Do you know how?" He asked. He needed to know everything to figure it out.

"It was most likely an adventurer, judging from the wound that looked to be caused by a longsword" Riveria explained. Aiz remained silent and had a vengeful expression. Finn breathed a prayer for the grave mistake the person has made.

"Anything else?" He asked. This time, Aiz answered instead.

"Six other adventurers were found dead in the same area" she explained. Now the situation got serious. They seemed to be dealing with a dangerous person who isn't afraid to murder multiple people at once. Finn decided to get more info from a direct source.

"I would like to ask Bell about what he witnessed" he said. He is the only living witness. The three then made their way back to the infirmary. Finn asked a few more questions on the way. Other than that, the trip was silent. When they got there, they were surprised to see Bell was already awake. He turned to them as they entered.

"Oh, hi" he said. Aiz immediately rushed over next to him. She got very close to Bell, which of course made him nervous.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Y-yes, I'm f-fine" he quickly responded. The close proximity was very embarrassing for him and made his face red. Aiz was confused by the way he was acting. Before she could ask, Finn stepped up to him.

"Can you tell us what happened?" He asked. Bell nodded and tried to remember.

"I was returning from Floor 11 after grinding for magic stones. I was on Floor 8 when a group of adventurers tried to ambush me" he said.

"Was it a group of six?" Aiz asked.

"Yeah, they blocked the passages to the upper levels" Bell replied. That explained why the bodies were there. Now, who killed them and injured Bell.

"Were they the ones that gave you those injuries?" Riveria asked.

"No, it wasn't them. It was a woman" he replied back. His answer confused them.

"A woman?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, she showed up from the passage behind me. She quickly killed the group and attacked me" Bell explained. Now they knew what caused the incident.

"What did she look like?" Finn asked. Bell paused as though he was searching for the description.

"She had red hair, green eyes, a red and yellow outfit, and a longsword" He explained as best as he could. Riveria and Finn took note of what he said, but Aiz reacted differently. Something about that description seemed awfully familiar. She just couldn't remember where she has seen it.

"Did she tell you her name?" Aiz asked at last. Bell paused again before answering.

"I think she said her name was…Revis?" He said with uncertainty. Aiz's eyes widened in shock by what he said. She never imagined it would be _her._ Riveria noticed her expression and questioned her.

"Aiz, do you know that name?" She asked.

"Yes. The red haired tamer" Aiz replied. Both Riveria and Finn were shocked by it. They clealy remembered how dangerous she was on Floor 18. While the three of them had grim expressions, Bell looked at all of them on confusion.

"Um, do you guys know that person?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. The lady you are talking about was responsible for the death of a level 4 adventurer, releasing monsters on Floor 18, and is able to fight Aiz on equal footing" Finn explained. Bell's stomach dropped upon hearing that. That lady was able to not only murder a level 4 adventurer, but is able to fight against Aiz as well?!

"It's a miracle that you're still alive" Riveria said.

"Well, it was more like she let me live" Bell explained. Now, his statement puzzled everyone. Bell answered their question before they could ask.

"She said that I reminded her of someone named 'Aria'" he said. The room suddenly had an awkward silence to it. Aiz had a sad look in her eyes and Riveria looked at Aiz with a sympathetic expression.

"Riveria, I think we should go now" Finn said which broke the silence. Riveria glanced at him and nodded.

"Okay, hope you recover soon" she said to Bell. The two then promptly left the room, leaving him and Aiz alone. The awkwardness increased greatly as Bell tried to look anywhere but at Aiz. Suddenly, Aiz made a move to grab his hand with both of hers. Bell quickly whipped his head to face hers. He saw that she had a… worried expression?

"Bell, please be more careful" she said with her voice also showing signs of worry. He didn't know what to say. Aiz almost nevers shows her emotions, only a blank expression. He then realized that she probably lets them show to familia members. It would make sense, someone who was like family who almost died. She didn't want to lose anyone.

"It's okay, I'll try to be more careful" he said in an attempt to calm her. It seemed to work as she formed a small smile. Bell also smiled by how innocent she looks when she finally smiles. The two shared the happy moment in peace.

Until the door flew opened to reveal the Hyrute sisters and Lefiya. Upon seeing Aiz holding Bell's hand, she flipped.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MISS AIZZZZ?!"


	9. Chapter 9

Bell was trying to take a nap, but he just couldn't do it. It may have been due to him almost being strangled by Lefiya after she came in. It took the combined efforts of Tiona and Tione to stop her hands from reaching his neck. Thankfully, she calmed down after a few minutes and listened to what Aiz said has happened. At first she was shocked by the reappearance of the tamer, but she had mixed emotions on the fact that Bell nearly died. The four girls left shortly afterwards, leaving him alone.

"Why does this day have to be so stressful?" He asked himself. In this day alone he had three brushes with death. One, the ambush. Two, the lady that left him for dead. Third, Lefiya being jealous. While he was annoyed by her, he couldn't say he hated her. She just seems to be overprotective with Aiz. In some way, she acted very similar to Hestia.

Bell paused on that thought. It has been almost one month since the passing of his goddess and Lili. He has been trying to get over it, but the nightmares still keep coming. If only he had been stronger back then, They may have still been alive. He shocked his head. There wasn't anything he could have done then. They died when he was unconscious. Yet, that just made it even more frustrating.

Trying to get the thoughts out of his head, he focused back on Lefiya. He has never really gotten a chance to talk to her. Partly due to her avoiding him, but still. It would be a good idea to try getting closer with her. As friends, they would be more effective together in combat. Additionally, it would be nice for her not glare daggers at him. Bell made up his mind. The next day, he planned to become acquaintances. Unfortunately, that would have to wait since he still couldn't go to sleep. It was nighttime, so almost everyone should be asleep. He got out of the bed as slowly as possible. A sharp sting appeared and made him wince. Of course the slash wound would still be sore. Ignoring the pain, he tiptoed his way through the manor. As expected, it was dead quiet except for a few noises from outside.

"This place is much bigger than it looks" Bell thought after some time. He never realized how much space the building had and was discovering new hallways with each turn. While it was cool to be exploring such a large place, it was also making him paranoid. Every blow of wind made him freeze up, each shadow made him back away from it. After a few minutes of exploring(and being scared over nothing), Bell decided to go back to the infirmary. However, before he could turn back, a voice was heard.

"Who's there?!" The voice asked. Bell immediately ran as quietly as possible to the infirmary. He bumped into a few objects, but still not enough to wake everyone up. Once he made it back, he silently slammed the door and laid in the bed. He was lucky that he wasn't caught or it would have been awkward to explain why he was sneaking around the manor. Fortunately, the panic and running was just what he needed to fall asleep.

When Bell woke up, he slowly got off the bed. The sting was there, but less painful than last night. He looked around and found a shirt that was laid out for him. Putting it on, he made his way to the great hall to eat. Once he got there and got his good, he sat down at a table and began to eat. He was biting into some eggs when he felt something and turned his head. As he somewhat predicted, he saw Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya coming towards him.

"You feeling any better?" Tiona asked as she plopped down next to him. The others took the same position that they had last time. He quickly noticed that Lefiya was again giving him a bad look. Normally, he would have chose not to respond to it. But he decided it was better to get it over with.

"Lefiya, is there something wrong?" He asked. The girls looked at her and she gave him a suspicious look.

"No, why do you ask?" She asked suspiciously.

"It's just that you keep giving me a look as though I did something" he explained. She was a bit surprised how he actually payed attention to her looks.

"It's just your imagination" she dismissed as she continued to eat her breakfast. Bell sighed at her response. This was going to be more difficult than he thought it would be.

"Fine, but please tell me if I did anything to offend you" he said in defeat. She just ignored him. All the while, the girls were giving both of them questionable looks. Tiona tried changing the topic.

"So, What are you planning to do today?" She asked Bell. He gave it some thought and just shrugged.

"Well, I'm in no condition to visit the dungeon. I probably should go visit Welf to visit and repair my armor" He said. He had wanted to drop in to say hi since he hasn't seen him in a while. To tell the truth, he actually planned on asking Welf to join him yesterday. The problem was he got selfish and wanted to see how he was able to do on his own. It was a good thing he was or else Welf may have been killed by that woman.

"What about you guys?" He asked.

"Finn asked us to check the dungeon for any other signs of Revis" Tione explained. Aiz and Tiona nodded to that.

"Miss Riveria is asking me to practice meditation exercises" Lefiya said. Quite ironically, Riveria showed up right after Lefiya said that.

"Hi Riveria" Aiz said. She said hello back and sat down next to Lefiya.

"Lefiya, I changed my mind on what you should practice today" She said. Lefiya have her a confused expression.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I would like you to spend the day with Mr. Cranel" Rivera explained. When she heard that, she almost spat out her drink.

"WHAT?!" She yelled, catching the attention of the other members. The others looked quite surprised.

"This is to help us if we go to the Dungeon. I noticed that you seem to have a grudge against Bell. You would just get distracted by it" Riveria stated. Lefiya tried arguing back, but Riveria shot down each attempt. After a few attempts, Lefiya reluctantly conceded. Bell was surprised by how perfect the moment was. It gave him a chance to become acquainted with her. Now, he just had to deal with her giving him a disgusted look. After they finished, the girls left to go do their job and left the two of them alone. Bell started to walk to the forge with Lefiya dragging behind him.

 **34 minutes later…**

They soon arrived at the door to Welf's forge. The entire trip was spent in silence, even though Bell tried to start a conversation a few times. All Lefiya did was grumble and shot him even more bad looks. When they knocked on the door, Welf came and opened it.

"Hey Bell and…Lefiya?" He said with a confused look.

"She has to tag along with me for the day" Bell explained. Welf looked from him to Lefiya and back, but he just shrugged.

"So what can I do for you?"

"I need armor repairs" Bell said.

"Already?! I just did them a few days ago!" Welf said incredulously. "What the heck did you do to them?" Bell answered by pulling out the breastplate. When he saw the dent, Welf was at a lost for words. The dent in the middle made the armor look weak and pathetic.

"How did that happen?" He asked slowly.

"I was attacked by this lady and she did a number on the armor and me" Bell replied with a nervous chuckle. Lefiya, who was in the background, just scoffed. Welf was about to ask what that meant when Bell decided to answer it himself. He lifted up his shirt to show the huge scar. Welf had a look of shock and terror.

"What the hell happened to you?!" He asked.

"Like I said, a lady attacked me" he replied. Bell seemed to be relaxed about it while Welf face turned from shock to grimness.

"Bell, be careful when you enter the dungeon and never go alone. The best I can do is make sure your gear is at its finest to give you the best protection" He said while putting his hand on Bell's shoulder. Bell smiled and nodded.

Right afterwards, Welf began the repair process. Bell and Lefiya stayed since Welf said it should only take a few minutes. True to his word, He stopped after a couple of minutes. When Bell took back his armor, it looked good as new.

"Thank you for doing this" Bell said after examining it.

"Well, it is my job after all" Welf replies with a chuckle. Behind them, Lefiya made a gagging gesture. The two then left the forge and started to walk around the city.

"So...what do you want to do?" Bell asked to try and break the ice.

"Nothing with you. So don't talk to me or look at me" she snapped. Bell shrinked away a little and they continued their walk. The mood was tense and very uncomfortable. He wanted to enjoy a causal trip around town, but her presence ruined any hope of it. The awkward silence remained for a bit, until she spoke up.

"That's it. I've had enough of being near you. I'm going to go somewhere else" she said.

"Huh, but Miss Riveria said.." Bell started before he was cut off.

"I don't care if I was told to. I am going and nothing will stop me!" She retorted as she started to walk away. However, she wasn't able to get three steps away before her foot tripped on a pavement brick that was sticking out. She was to distracted by Bell to even stick her arms out in time. She saw that she was about to hit the ground, then she suddenly stopped. Her face was still facing the ground, but she wasn't falling. She felt an arm was wrapped around her waist and was holding her. She slowly turned around and saw Bell was directly behind her. He had ran forward and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern. Lefiya slowly looked at him to his arm and back. Her face was starting to show embarrassment and anger.

"GET OFF ME!" She screamed as she swiftly brought her elbow back. It struck him right in the nose and it caused, him to fall back.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?!" He asked in confusion while clutching his nose. "I was just trying to help!". Lefiya realized what she did and looked away.

"S-Sorry" She said in a quiet voice. It was her fault that she wasn't paying attention and tripped. He had saved her and he got elbowed in the nose for nothing. Even though she didn't want to say it, she knew she had to.

"T-thank you got s-saving me" she reluctantly said. Bell gave a half smile since that was the first time he had gotten some friendliness from her.

"It's fine. Let's just go back home before something else happens" he said. She agreed and they both started to walk back to the manor.

When they got back, they were greeted by Riveria. She walked up to them like a mother about to scold her children.

"What happened with you two? Why is Bell holding his nose?" She asked.

"I…elbowed him in the nose after he stopped me from tripping" Lefiya explained with her head hanging low. Riveria narrowed her eyes and was about to scold her when Bell interrupted.

"It wasn't her fault. I took her by surprise and she hit without realizing it. She also apologized afterwards" he explained. They both look at him with surprise. Lefiya was surprised that he stood up for her. Riveria was surprised that Lefiya apologized to him. She smiled and gave a small chuckle.

"It's good to see that you two have became friends" After that, Riveria walked away, leaving the two alone.

"Lefiya, we should do this again sometime" Bell said with a smile.

"What the hell are you saying!" She yelled. He just sighed on the thought that she still hates him. At least she seems to be getting more friendlier towards him. He quickly left so she doesn't keep yelling at him.


	10. Chapter 10

A few hours have passed since Bell and Lefiya returned from their "walk". During that time, he was training his knife skills and agility. He made a makeshift dummy and practiced swift strikes and moving around it quickly. By the end of his training, he was very exhausted. His practice dummy was sliced up everywhere and was on the verge of falling apart. He went inside to get some rest in his room. Even after being a member for a few days, he still had difficulty navigating the building. On the way there, he ran into Aiz and Tiona.

"Hey guys" he said when he saw them.

"Hi Bell/Hey Mr. Argonaut!" They both replied back. The two girls decided to walk with Bell to his room. Tiona was skipping while humming a tune that Bell didn't recognize. Aiz was walking silently as usual.

"So, how was your day?" He asked.

"Boring. We searched the dungeon from Floor 1 to Floor 24 and we found nothing" Tiona said with a sigh. Bell was impressed how they were able to get that far on their own. Him with his party weren't able to handle the entire middle floors.

"How was your day with Lefiya?" Aiz asked. Bell glanced away, remembering how she more or less broke his nose.

"It was...interesting" he answered slowly. The two looked at him with a questioning face. They assumed something awkward or embarrassing happened. Soon, they reached his room.

"Well,see you guys later" Bell said as he began to enter his room. He was about to close the door when Tiona stopped him.

"Can we hang out in your room?" She asked with a grin.

"Huh?" He said. Before he could ask, the two quickly sidestepped past him and went in his room. When they saw the inside of his room, they were impressed. The entire room was organized and clean. His bed sheets were neatly straight with a pair of clothes and a towel laid folded. His armor and salamander wool was on a mannequin that was oddly the same height and size as Bell. It seemed to have small scabbards attached to hold his blades. To the side was a desk with books, paper, and pencils. The books, to Tiona's delight, were mostly hero stories. Overall, the room was made for dungeon prep and comfort.

"Wow, your room looks cool!" Tiona squealed as she picked up the books. Aiz looked curiously at the mannequin. Bell was embarrassed how people, especially Aiz, were looking at his things.

"I-I just try to be efficient" he explained while stuttering.

"Yeah, but how and why is there a mannequin here?" Tiona asked.

"My advisor said that it would help me learn how I should wear my gear. The mannequin came in parts, so I just carried them with a box" he explained. While the two were talking about the specifics of Bell's room, Aiz noticed something. Laying on the pillow of his bed, there was a plush rabbit. It had white fur and red eyes, exactly like how Bell looks. It had two blue ribbons tied to its ears. She smiled a bit as she thought of how adorable it was. She leaned over and picked up the small plush. It was very soft, like it was actually made of real fur. She couldn't stop herself from hugging it. By then, Bell and Tiona noticed Aiz focusing on something.

"Hey Aiz? What are you doing?" Tiona asked. Aiz simply turned around and showed them the stuffed animal. Tiona eyes sparkled while Bell's face reddened.

"It's so cute!" Tiona squealed yet again. She ran over to Aiz and started to pet the toy. Then, the two turned towards Bell.

"Why do you have a plush rabbit?" They both asked in unison. For a moment, Bell was too embarrassed to answer. After a few seconds, he was finally able to get the words out.

"I-it's a gift that Lili bought. She was just trying to tease me. The ribbons used to belong to my goddess. I keep it since it's one of my only reminders of the two" he explained. There was much more to it, but he didn't want to say that he cries every time he looks at it. The two girls both smiled at how he had a memento of his past familia. But, it also brought back a question they had asked when he first joined.

"Bell, why did you leave your familia?" Aiz asked. Bell froze as he wasn't prepared to answer that question. He couldn't tell them the truth, as Loki ordered him, so he had to think of a way out.

"I…don't want to talk about it" he said while looking away. It technically was the truth since didn't want to bring up that memory. It did the trick and Aiz eyes widened a bit.

"Oh, sorry for asking" she said in a quiet voice. Tiona gave a sympathetic look and turned to Aiz.

"Hey Aiz, we should get going now" she suggested. Aiz looked at her with a desperate face and looked down at the rabbit plush that she was still hugging. She finally turned to Bell and had a expression of a little kid.

"Is it alright if I can have it for the day?" She asked quietly. Tiona and Bell were quite surprised that Aiz would ask that. She never had an attachment to any item except her sword.

"Sure, just please be careful with it" Bell said. Aiz's face lit up a little and she had the smile of a child. Tiona couldn't help but laugh while Bell blushed at it. After that, the two girls left his room, leaving Bell alone. He still had a faint blush on his face from what Aiz asked.

"Never knew she would like stuff animals" he remarked with a chuckle.

Back to the two, they were walking towards Finn's office to give him a report of their search. Aiz was still hugging the plush like it was her most favorite thing.

"Hey Aiz, why did you ask to have it?" Tiona asked.

"I...just wanted to hold it for a bit longer" she explained with her blank expression returning. Tiona sighed as that was one of the rare moments that Aiz acted that way. By then, they had reached the door to his office. Tiona knocked and was answered by a, "Come in". When they opened the door, they were greeted by Finn who was sitting behind his desk.

"Hello Tiona and Aiz, I assume you are here to report about your search?" He asked.

"Yes. So far, we haven't found any trace of her up until floor 24" Aiz reported. Finn was silent and had a calculating expression.

"It seems that she hasn't been noticeably active since that attack. I asked Gareth to check on whether there had been any news about her. Not a single bit of information" he explained. Tiona sighed and Aiz had a more stressed face.

"It's okay that she hasn't attacked another person, but we still don't know where she is or what she's doing" Tiona said with an annoyed tone. Finn chuckled grimly at it.

"You are right that she hasn't harmed any adventurer that we are aware of. I just hope she turns up sooner or later, without there being any accident" he said. He knew it wasn't true since every time she had shown up, there was some form of trouble. It wasn't easy to think that she could be anywhere in Orario, waiting to make her next move. He was thinking on what their next move should be when he noticed something peculiar. Aiz had her arms crossed the entire time that they were talking. At first, he thought of it as nothing. Now that he actually looked, she appeared to be hugging something. It was white all over with red eyes and long ears. A rabbit plush? He never recalled Aiz owning anything of the sorts or would ever think she would get one, Curiosity got the better of him.

"Aiz, What are you holding?" He asked. She looked slightly confused at the question. She looked down to where his eyes were and saw that he was implying the rabbit.

"This? It belongs to Bell. I asked if I could keep it for day" she explained. Now he was more confused. Why would she ask to temporarily keep it? Better yet, since when did Bell have that? He knew that practically no one in the famila owned stuff animals, due to routine room inspections.

"There is nothing wrong with holding it, just be careful with it" he said. Aiz replied with a nod and then hugged the plush tighter. He and Tiona chuckled at her antics.

" _This boy certainly has changed Aiz. I should give him my regards sometime later._ " He thought. The three then discussed possible plans to deal with the whereabouts of Revis. After they finished, the girls left the office and went to great hall to eat. When they got there, they sat down with Tione and Lefiya.

"Hey guys, you have the report to the captain?" Tione asked,

"Yeah, he said we should not keep searching for now" Tiona explained as she ate. Lefiya was, of course, asking about what Aiz has been doing. Aiz was instead focusing on something else.

"Bell isn't here?" She said in a confused voice. When she said that, the others glanced around. Bell wasn't at the hall.

"Maybe he went to sleep early?" Tiona suggested as she bit into her chicken. Tione and Aiz nodded in agreement. Lefiya was shaking in anger for him grabbing her waist. The group talked some more and they soon finished their dinner. Each of them got up, said goodnight, and went to their rooms. When Aiz got to her room, she changed into her sleep wear. As she got into bed, she looked at the rabbit that she placed on the nightstand. An idea popped into her head and she grabbed the rabbit, pulling it into a hug. The comforting feeling of snuggling with the plush brought a quick wave of drowsiness.

"Bell…." she quietly whispered as she slowly fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for not posting for awhile. I have been quite busy with school. Also, I have been thinking on whether I should end the series sooner than I planned. Leave a review on what you think should happen with the story**

When Aiz got up, she sat up from her bed and stretched her arms. She slept quite peacefully for a change. Looking down, she saw the plush rabbit she borrowed from Bell. It had been hugged by her the entire time she was asleep. Aiz found herself smiling as she further noticed how much Bell actually did look like a rabbit. She then got up and changed into her normal clothes. She picked up the rabbit and walked out of her room. It was pretty early in the morning, so almost no one was awake. The only people she could think of who would be up was Riveria, Finn, Gareth, and her. That was good since there wouldn't be people distracting her from her routine. Her morning routine was to train until it was time for breakfast. As she made her way through the hallways, she noticed how rare it was for there to be no noise. It was usually noisy and bustling with the many members going around. All the better reason to wake up early.

Finally, she entered the open area of the manor. It was a courtyard that allowed enough space to move freely and get nice view of the city. As she took in the pale morning sky, she heard a sound coming from her right. When she turned to see what it was, she saw that it was Bell. He was holding a wooden dagger and was striking a dummy. Most likely it was agility training. Though, it did surprise her to see him awake so early. Judging from the sweat coming of his face, he probably started about an hour ago.

"Hello Bell" She said to catch his attention. It worked and he looked over to where he heard the voice. He saw Aiz and stopped his training.

"Hi Aiz" he replied back as he was breathing heavily. "You also get up quite early?"

"Yes, I normally do training until everyone wakes up"she replied. Her training was simply just practicing swinging her sword and improving technique. She never had a chance to spar with someone. It would be rude to wake someone up just to train with them. The last time she did train with another person ...was when she trained Bell on top of the wall. On that thought, an idea popped in her head.

"Hey Bell, do you want to train with me?" She asked. Bell looked a little surprised by the question. He then nodded in agreement. The two then got into position, wielding practice weapons. Aiz noticed how Bell's stance was better than the last time they fought. His dagger was held in a defensive position, his body was ready to move at a moments notice, and his focus was much sharper. She was impressed by how much he improved and how fast she improved. That only made her more curious to find out his method of quick growth. Perhaps she might find out this time.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah" he replied. A few moments a silence passed. Then, the two charged at each other, their blades clashing.

30 minutes have passed since they started. No noise was coming from either of them. Bell wasn't able to make a sound since he was unconscious and Aiz was too focus on not waking him up. She was giving him a lap pillow, as she always did when she would accidently knock him out. She gently stroked his hair and patted his forehead. The feeling of it was so comforting that she always felt happy when she does it. Of course, she wasn't to worried about someone seeing them as no one would be awake. Unbeknownst to her, two other people were awake and was watching them.

"Awww. They look so cute together" Tiona squealed while Tione was focusing on the two. The two sisters had woken up earlier than usual and had decided to walk around. Tione originally wanted to go visit Finn to see what he was doing, but Tiona pointed out that he was probably busy. That did left her a bit sad, but she got over it when Tiona suggested they see if anyone else was awake. After a few minutes, they walked out onto the balcony. It was a few yards off the ground and it overlooked the entire courtyard. As the two looked around, Tiona saw movement from the corner of her eye. Near the end of the courtyard were Aiz and Bell. They were having a training match as far as she could tell. Bell seemed to be barely catching up with Aiz's attacks, but he was putting up a good fight. The fight would have gone on longer, had it not been for Aiz hitting Bell in the head with her spin kick. Tiona cringed a bit when she saw the foot collide with his head. He was sent flying a few feet and hit the ground, unconscious. She was about to go help him, when she saw Aiz was already next to him. By then, Tione noticed the two and was watching them as well. Back to the two, Aiz checked to see if he had any injuries. What she did next confused the two sisters. She kneeled down in front of Bell's head and adjusted herself. Then, she slowly picked up his head and placed it on her lap. To finish it off, she started to stroke his head. Both Tiona and Tione had a look of shock, surprise, and confusion. Aiz has never let a man, even in if they were apart of the same familia, get too close to her body. Yet, they just witnessed Aiz herself, giving a lap pillow to a guy.

"I never thought this was even a possibility" Tione remarked. Tiona was gushing how adorable the entire thing was.

"Aiz got herself a boyfriend!" She squealed quietly to not alert their presence.

"You blockhead, they aren't dating. Aiz cares about fighting monsters, not boys" Tione scolded. Tiona glared at her for the insult, but then realized something.

"You are right! She only focuses on how strong she is. We should change that" She said.

"What do you mean?" Tione asked.

"We should get her and Mr. Argonaut together" she suggested. Tione paused and thought about it. From what she has seen, Aiz has been quite friendly towards him. The two get along very well and both of them do care about how the other is doing. It would be wrong to try and pair people up together, but it was Aiz's best chance to do something a normal girl would do.

"Sure, why not" she said. Tiona grinned and the two went inside to plan their operation.

As Bell opened his eyes, he first saw the pale blue sky over him. Next, he felt something soft and comfortable on the back of his head. Finally, he felt something stroke his forehead. A sense of deja vu came over him as he tried to remember why it felt so familiar. He remembered that he was training with Aiz. Training Aiz, looking up at the sky, something on the back of his head, and a gentle stroking. His eyes shot open when he realized why it was familiar.

"AAAHHHHH!" He screamed as he quickly brought his body forward and rolled a few feet away from Aiz. After he stopped, he jerked his head towards her. She was in a kneeling position and was looking at him in confusion.

"Did you...not like it?" She asked. He remained silent because he was afraid of what might happen if he answered. He also was thinking about why she gave a lap pillow, A LAP PILLOW for crying out loud, every time he was unconscious. Again, he didn't feel like sharing that thought since it may offend her. All Bell could do was to brush it aside and act like it didn't bother him.

"Sorry about that" he said as he got up. Aiz also got up and walked over to Bell.

"I'm sorry about kicking you in the head again" she said in a quiet voice. She hadn't meant to, it happened by instinct.

"It's fine, I just need some rest" he replied. As he began to walk towards the manor, Aiz remembered something important.

"Bell, Wait" she called. He turned around to see Aiz walking over to something on a bench. She picked it up and walked back to him. He saw that it was the plush he let her borrowed.

"I planned on returning it when you woke up, but I forgot about it when we were training" she explained. She held it out and Bell took it. It was exactly how it was yesterday, with no damage or stains on it. She had obviously been very careful with it.

"Thanks for keeping it safe" he said with a smile.

"It's fine, and thanks for letting me have it for the day" she said back. The two then walked back into the manor while starting a conversation. They talked about things like the dungeon and their gear. During which, Aiz brought up an interesting point.

"We maybe having another expedition soon. Do you think Finn will allow you to go?" she asked. Bell paused and thought about it. It at first seemed crazy that he, a level 2 adventurer, would go with high ranked adventurers to the lower floors. By himself, he wouldn't survive one minute down there. Though, he would have a huge party of people with him.

"Don't you think I may be too weak to join you all?" He asked with uncertainty. Aiz shook her head.

"It's perfectly fine. We took Lefiya on our last expedition and she was only level 3" she said. Bell wanted to point out that since Lefiya was a magic caster, she didn't have to fight on the front lines. However, considering that Lefiya would hunt him down if she heard that, he kept his mouth shut.

"Who knows? I might be allowed to join when the time comes" he said to clear up her question. She accepted it and they continued on to the great hall. When they got there, some people were already at the tables. As Aiz expected, Finn and Riveria were there. What she wasn't expecting was seeing Tiona and Tione walking up to them.

"Hey you guys!" Tiona said cheerfully. She and her sister were smiling, in a way that seemed off.

"Hello, since when did you guys get up so early?" Aiz asked. Tione dismissed it, saying that they just woke up early. The two then dragged Aiz and Bell towards a table and sat them down together. Strangely, one large plate of food was set between them.

"Umm, why did you only get one plate?" Bell asked.

"Why are you asking? Do you not like eating with Aiz?" Tiona asked with small smirk. Bell blushed and incoherent stuttering tumbled from his mouth. Aiz just blinked, not really understanding why Bell was getting flustered. She simply began to eat the food. Bell was still hesitant to start. When Aiz glanced at him and gave him a expectant look, he shakily ate as well. While the two ate, Tiona and Tione both smirked behind them.

"Step 1, success"


	12. Chapter 12

**Dear fanfic readers, I am terribly sorry for not posting for quite a while. I was trying to decide what to do with the story. In the end, I've decided to make this the final chapter. Again, sorry to anyone who wants the series to go on. I also am sorry for leaving many conflicts unresolved, like Freya and Revis. I was just planning on them making that one time appearance. Finally, sorry if this chapter isn't good enough to end the story. I tried to make it good, but I'm unsure. So I hope you enjoy the final chapter of "A Fresh Start"**

After what seemed like hours of grueling embarrassment to Bell, he and Aiz finished the large plate of food. He was glad for it to be over as he felt that any longer would have made him passed out. Just as he was getting up to leave, Tiona grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the group.

"Where do you think you're going? We want to hang out at town again" she said while hiding her mischievous grin. Tione had pulled Aiz out her chair as well. The two sisters then proceeded to drag the both of them out of the manor. Bell and Aiz had confused expressions while they tried to have the sisters release their grip on them. It proved futile as they had an iron grip on them. After a few minutes, they reached the main part of Orario. It was then that Tiona and Tione let go of them and began to walk away.

"We want to check out a few stores. You guys can check out other places if you like. We'll meet back up at the manor" Tione explained. Before Bell and Aiz could respond, the sisters quickly ran off and disappeared into the crowd. The two stood there, not knowing what to do. After a few moments of silence, Aiz was the first to speak.

"Should...we go then?" She suggested. Bell nodded slowly and the two began to walk in the opposite direction of where there had set off to. Little did they know, Tiona and Tione had sneaked back and were spying on the two.

"We got them alone. Now, we need to make sure that their 'date' goes perfectly" Tiona whispered as she watched their retreating backs.

"Yeah, we take out _any_ man that dares try to interfere" Tione said with a shadow coming over her face. Tiona took a few steps away, hoping that no man would be unfortunate enough to get on her sister's bad side. Back to Bell and Aiz, they were walking around and looking at stores they passed by. There were weapons stores and armor stores. They weren't to interested in them since they already good gear. When they passed by a clothes shop, Aiz walked inside while dragging Bell with her. Once inside, she tried on several different outfits. They were of course less embarrassing than the ones Tiona and Tione picked last time, yet they still made Bell blush. In the end, she didn't buy any of them items there.

"We should go somewhere else" Bell suggested. He was turning to walk out, but she grabbed his arm.

"You should try in some clothes as well" she suggested. He tried to argue back, but she was insistent on it. After surrendering, he also tried in a few outfits. They varied from pirate outfits to a kimono to strangely, a school outfit? When he tried on a butler uniform, Aiz got interested.

"You should buy that" she said. He was shocked that she wanted him to wear a butler outfit.

"But, this seems a li.. No, you will get it" Bell was saying before Aiz immediately cut him off. Again, he surrendered and bought the outfit for a surprisingly cheap price.

" _When will I ever wear this?"_ He thought as he looked at it. It was practically pointless for an adventurer to have it since it's not possible to fight in and he had no plans in becoming an actual butler. On the other hand, Aiz was thinking about Bell wearing it and acting like her butler. While normally she would never think about things like that, Loki had recently attempted to get her to be her butler. Besides, it did look cute on him.

Wait, cute?! Why was she thinking about that?! He is a member of her familia and a good friend hers. Aiz shook her head in an attempt to forget those thoughts. Bell noticed and was confused.

"Hey Aiz, are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine, it was nothing" she said to play it off. It did the trick and he focused back on where they should go. He saw a crepe stand and pointed there.

"We should get something to eat" he suggested. Aiz nodded and the two walked over there. When the vendor noticed them, he was a surprised to see a high ranking adventurer.

"S-sword princess! What brings you here?" He asked.

"I was just walking around with another familia member" she replied while nodding towards Bell, who scratched the back of his head. The vendor noticed how awkward he felt, so he decided to subtlety tease them.

"So, what can I get for the couple?" He asked in his normal business voice. Bell flushed him embarrassment while Aiz tilted her head in confusion.

"W-we aren't d-d-dating" Bell said quickly while holding his hands out in front of him. The entire spectacle was hilarious for the vendor. Before he could tease the boy more, Aiz ordered the food.

"Two crepes please" She asked. Bell sighed in relief for being released from the situation. The vendor discretely sighed and started to make the order. One minute later, Bell and Aiz were continuing there walk, each eating a small waffle with strawberries, cream, and chocolate. As they ate, Bell couldn't help but glance at Aiz. She looked like a child who took small and adorable bites. He both smiled and blushed at the sight.

" _This side of Aiz is pretty nice, something I never would have known had I not been in the same familia"_ he thought. After they finished, they decided to sit down on a bench. The two sat in silence before one of them spoke up.

"Bell, This has been...quite fun" Aiz said with a small smile.

"I agree. Times like this come seldom when you're an adventurer" he replied back. At his words, Aiz looked down in thought. He was right, she never had many chances to relax. It's only been training and fighting in the Dungeon. That's how it's been for her since she joined the familia. The only people to go and change that were Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, and Bell. To tell the truth, Bell had the biggest impact on her. Because of him, she worried about what impression she left in him, curious about his growth, and even had her not give her rank up a second thought. That last one was what truly made her notice something was different. She had worked tirelessly with blood and sweat to get to the next level and when she did, not even a feeling of accomplishment. She had to know what was wrong with her and the person who can give her the answer was right in front of her.

"Hey Bell?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know why I can't concentrate on the things I normally do ?" She asked. Bell was a bit confused by the sudden and random question.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, ever since we first ran into each other, I can't seem to be focusing on normal things. I tend to think about you" she explained, "I think about whether you feel that I'm like a monster or if you're safe". Bell didn't respond back, so Aiz kept going.

"Normally, I would just focus on getting stronger and improving my status. But when I finally ranked up, I was to distracted by you to even feel happy. Do you know why this is happening?" She asked. To her dismay, Bell seemed to be frozen and unresponsive.

Bell was freaking out and exploding in fireworks on the inside. Aiz just said that she thinks about him constantly, even before joining the familia. He silently prayed to all the gods he knew that what he heard wasn't a dream. Slowly, he started to get the words out.

"I think the reason this is happening to you is because something about me has caught your interest" he nervously explained.

"Caught my...interest?" She asked while tilting her head.

"Y-Yeah! Think of it like how you first saw my rabbit plush. Something about it interested you, so you wanted to keep it" he nervously said. It was extremely difficult for him to keep his voice from cracking.

Aiz thought about what he said. She liked the rabbit because it looked cute and reminded her of Bell. With the actual Bell, she liked his likeness to a rabbit and his personality that doesn't give up. Her eyes widened as she finally has an answer to her unsolvable dilemma. She liked who he his and what he does. It put her heart at ease to finally put an end to that problem. Though now that he brought up his plush as an example, she couldn't help but think about her hugging Bell like that.

" _I'll ask him later"_ she thought to herself.

"Thanks Bell, you helped me get over that problem"

"It's no big deal, that's what friends are for" he said while scratching the back of his head. Looking up, he saw that it was almost sunset.

"We should probably head back, it getting late" he said while standing up.

"What about Tiona and Tione?" Aiz asked.

"They can head back when they want" he said. After that, the two began to walk back towards the Manor.

When they arrived, the two decided to skip dinner and go to sleep. They had walked around until they were in front of Aiz's room.

"Well, thanks for spending the day with me" she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, it was very fun. I hope we can do it again sometime" Bell said, returning the smile.

"Well, see you tomorrow morning" she said as she began to enter her room.

"See ya" he said back as he began to walk away. Before he could get five steps away, he heard Aiz call behind him.

"Hey Bell, one more thing"

"What is i…" he started to say while turning before he was cut off by Aiz kissing him. He was hardly able to process what was happening around him. All he knew were her soft and smooth lips, having a sweet taste, against his. He saw her face was both a mixture of serenity and joy. That and how beautiful she was made it much better. The sensation was the best thing he has ever felt in his life. He just knew his grandfather was congratulating him for making him proud. Almost as soon as it started, Aiz slowly drew back. Her face had a noticeable blush on it and she was smiling in a way that screamed cuteness.

"Thank you for changing me" she said quietly. With that, she walked into her room and closed the door. Bell was left alone, frozen in place with a face that Bete could officially dub 'Tomato Dude'. After a few seconds, a big smile grew on his face.

"Your welcome" he whispered, as if she was still in front of him. He then started to walk back to his room in complete bliss. When he got to his room, he looked up at the ceiling.

"" _Goddess, Lili, thank you for helping me get to where I am know. I promise that I'm getting stronger, for you and my new friends"_ he vowed as he entered his room.

 **Hey guys, the ending may have been a little lackluster, but I tried. Hoped you enjoyed the story and leave suggestions in the reviews for future fanfics, Danmachi or not. That wraps up "A Fresh Start" and I hope you all have a lit day!**


End file.
